EA's "city-state" label structure can be a little tricky sometimes, in that I'll bet it's hard for them sometimes to pick what game goes under what label. For example, you'd probably guess that Skate might be an EA Sports label game, ad not an EA Games label game. EA Games global marketing VP Mike Quigley explains in a new interview with Gamasutra why you'd be wrong:
"That's a great question. Right now, again, that is driven by the fact that the game was made by Black Box, and the Black Box team is near the Need for Speed team, and those guys work together in Vancouver. That's just where we put it."
But what Quigley calls the game's "core nucleus" also had a role in the decision.
"But in that case specifically, we are kind of going "anti-everything" with that game. It's more about getting back to the roots of skating, and it's just trying to be more of a real... having the style and tone and feel of actually getting on the board and getting out in the streets. In that case, it's not about the leagues, the points, or the standings. It's just about, "Hey, how does it feel to go out on the board and see what you can do?
"Ultimately, that kind of core nucleus of the game drove the fact of whether it should be an EA Sports or an EA Games game, at the end of the day. That and the fact that the Black Box team is part of us."
In-Depth: Electronic Arts' Quigley On The State Of EA Games [Gamasutra]